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Sirius XM's Missing Lynx

The satellite radio giant failed to hit the market with its game-changing receiver this year.

The clock is ticking on Sirius XM Radio(Nasdaq: SIRI), and it's starting to become obvious that CEO Mel Karmazin's summertime promise for two retail Sirius XM 2.0 receivers in 2011 will only meet you halfway.

Lynx -- the potentially game-changing receiver that ups the ante with an Android-based touchscreen interface -- isn't likely to show up until early next year.

The $139 Edge debuted in October, but there isn't a lot to crow about when it comes to the initial Sirius XM 2.0 receiver. Sure, it has access to the roughly two dozen additional channels that aren't available on other radios, but that's about it.

The Edge doesn't seem to be catching on, and Sirius XM's holiday marketing push appears to be emphasizing its more successful 1.0 gadgetry.

Hitting the LynxThankfully, a poorly received Edge doesn't mean that Sirius XM 2.0 will be a flop. It will just have to wait until 2012.

Best Buy's (NYSE: BBY) website inadvertently leaked a product page for the Lynx in October, fueling hopes of the high-tech receiver's arrival in time for the holiday shopping season.

Well, Santa's bag is going to be a little light on Lynx this year.

The good news here is that the Lynx can't be too far away. Tech blog Engadget reported earlier this week that the Lynx has cleared the FCC hurdle. It won't be long before we find out what the new receiver can truly do.

Contrary to the Edge's strengths, Sirius XM 2.0 was never just about the "Xtra Channels" that are now available. This was supposed to be the platform that plays nice with Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android apps for extreme customization. This is supposed to be Sirius XM's best shot at slowing the fast-growing popularity of Pandora(NYSE: P) in cars.

We'll see how this plays out.

Karmazin is slated to be the keynote speaker at the Citi Global Entertainment, Media and Telecommunications Conference in two weeks. If there's any news on Lynx's arrival -- or on which automakers are ready to upgrade their factory-installed receivers -- that would be an ideal time to make it known.

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Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz calls them as he sees them. He does not own shares in any of the stocks in this story. Rick is also part of theRule Breakersnewsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.

Author

Rick has been writing for Motley Fool since 1995 where he's a Consumer and Tech Stocks Specialist. Yes, that's a long time with more than 20,000 bylines over those 22 years. He's been an analyst for Motley Fool Rule Breakers and a portfolio lead analyst for Motley Fool Supernova since each newsletter service's inception. He earned his BBA and MBA from the University of Miami, and he splits his time living in Miami, Florida and Celebration, Florida.
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